Following Sha Shuli's withdrawal from the transaction, Advanced Fiber Resources has adjusted its acquisition target to a 99.97% stake in Suzhou Anjiexun, at a transaction price of about RMB 1.6395 billion, against an appraised value of about RMB 1.650 billion for all of Anjiexun's equity. The deal will be paid through share issuance, convertible bonds and cash, with the cash consideration totaling about RMB 492 million.
Why we recommend it: The original article provides the valuation, pricing and payment structure, helping readers understand M&A valuations in the optical communications passive components sector
C114 Communications Network · Optical CommunicationsOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6767
Shanghai Xihe Technology has released the registration version of its IPO prospectus for the STAR Market, describing itself as one of the world's leading suppliers of silicon photonic integrated chips. Its customers include leading optical module makers and cloud service providers, and its products are already shipping at scale into AI clusters and hyperscale data centers. According to estimates by optical module makers, silicon photonics solutions can reduce total cost by nearly 20% and the volume of components within the module by nearly 30% at the same data rate and distance.
Why we recommend it: The original article provides cost and size data for silicon photonics versus discrete components, helping readers understand the domestic supply chain for AI data center optical interconnects
Oct 14Wed
Wednesday
Electro OpticsOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6161
Salience Labs, a University of Oxford spin-out developing photonic chips for AI data centers, has announced £95 million in funding to scale production of optical circuit switches and expand its presence in Silicon Valley.
Why we recommend it: The original article explains the positioning of optical circuit switching chips for AI data centers, helping understand where optical switching fits in compute networks
Photonics.comOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6161
Salience Labs, which develops photonic chips for AI data center interconnects, has closed an oversubscribed $125 million Series B round. The company previously demonstrated a 64-port all-optical silicon photonic circuit switch live at ECOC 2026.
Why we recommend it: The original article links the funding to the demonstration of a 64-port all-optical switch at ECOC, helping gauge commercial progress in silicon photonic optical switching
optics.org (SPIE Industry News)Optics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6161
UK-based silicon photonics company Salience Labs has closed a $125 million Series B round to scale development of optical circuit switch (OCS) technology and ease network bottlenecks in AI data centers.
Why we recommend it: The original article highlights optical circuit switching's positioning against AI data center bottlenecks, helping understand capital interest in silicon photonic switching
Oct 13Tue
Tuesday
C114 Communications Network · Optical CommunicationsOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score7171
NVIDIA and Cisco on October 12 jointly announced plans for the USFP (Ultra-Small Form-factor Pluggable) optical module, a high-density pluggable with 400Gb/s per lane, aimed at the scaling needs of next-generation AI factory networks and helping control network complexity, power consumption and cost as connection counts grow.
Why we recommend it: The original article explains the motivation behind two leading vendors jointly defining a new form factor, helping assess how AI network optical modules are evolving
Oct 10Sat
Saturday
C114 Communications Network · Optical CommunicationsOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6565
Shenzhen Zhishang Technology announced the signing of a 2027 Demand Forecast Cooperation Memorandum with customer PH. PH expects to purchase MPO fiber optic patch cords and other fiber optic connectors from the company in 2027, with a forecast target value of $500 million (approximately RMB 3.346 billion). C114 believes optical interconnect demand has expanded from optical modules and fiber optic cables to upstream optical components.
Why we recommend it: The original article gives a $500 million connector demand forecast from a single customer, clearly showing how AI optical interconnect demand is propagating upstream to components
Oct 9Fri
Friday
Electro OpticsOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6969
JEDEC has released the JESD264 standard, setting new certification and reliability requirements for the emerging silicon photonics market. It is the first reliability standard for silicon photonics in AI networks.
Why we recommend it: The original article explains that silicon photonic devices now have a dedicated reliability certification standard for the first time, helping to understand the threshold for silicon photonics entering large-scale AI network deployment
C114 Communications Network · Optical CommunicationsOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6767
Lumentum CEO Michael Hurlston said in an interview in Tokyo that demand for some products will remain about 70% unmet next year, while other products still face a 30% demand gap through 2028. The company's 2029 capacity is nearly fully booked, and it is ramping up production at full speed.
Why we recommend it: The source gives specific demand gap ratios, vividly illustrating the shortage of upstream laser chips for AI optical communications
Oct 8Thu
Thursday
Laser Focus WorldOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6161
A Laser Focus World article notes that surging industry interest in MicroLED co-packaged optics (CPO) reflects its many advantages, though technical challenges remain to be solved.
Why we recommend it: The original article reviews the advantages and challenges of MicroLED's move from displays to optical interconnects, helping assess the maturity of this CPO approach
C114 Communications Network · Optical CommunicationsOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6565
LightCounting's latest report says the Ethernet optical module market had been expected to slow in 2026, but data from the first nine months defied expectations: cloud providers' capital spending accelerated sharply from late January to early February and remained strong over the following six months. The full-year Ethernet optical module market is now forecast to grow 120%.
Why we recommend it: The original article explains that the upward revision was driven by cloud providers' capital expenditures, helping to gauge the scale of AI-driven demand for optical modules
Why we recommend it: The original work transmits high-dimensional cluster states over actual deployed fiber, offering useful insights for quantum network engineering
A team at DTU Electro, Technical University of Denmark, has made progress in ultra-low-noise supercontinuum lasers, nearly doubling the spectral range compared with similar low-noise sources by heat-treating the fiber.
AT&T announced a multi-year optical fiber and cable supply agreement with Corning with a total contract value of more than $3 billion. Corning will continue delivering fiber and cable for AT&T's home broadband expansion. AT&T said average monthly traffic per fiber user has surpassed 1TB, five times the 2016 level.
Why we recommend it: The original article gives the contract value and user traffic growth, helping to understand the scale of fiber demand driven by AI and video
Sep 27Sun
Sunday
C114 Communications Network · Optical CommunicationsOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6363
Hengtong Optic-Electric released a private placement plan to raise up to 6.636 billion yuan for next-generation optical fiber R&D and production, construction of high-end optical new materials in Inner Mongolia, and advanced AI optical interconnect projects, with no more than 35 targeted investors.
On September 17, Largan spent RMB 1.172 billion to acquire about 2,259 ping of land and 3,695 ping of buildings in Nantun, Taichung. It was the company's seventh real estate deal since late June, bringing the total to RMB 8.078 billion. Chairman Lin Enping confirmed in July that the company had won its first customer order for fiber arrays, with the land purchases paving the way for mass production in 2027.
Why we recommend it: The source details the pace and value of the land purchases, showing the scale of the smartphone lens leader's push into CPO fiber arrays
Sep 22Tue
Tuesday
C114 Communications Network · Optical CommunicationsOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6161
LightCounting's latest quarterly report says NPOs dominated much of the discussion at the recent CIOE, much as the industry's enthusiasm for LPOs a few years ago. Yet sales of retimed pluggable optical modules continue to hit new highs, with Ethernet optical modules accounting for the bulk of overall sales.
Huawei and the Xi'an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics have signed a strategic cooperation agreement, with AI+optics as a core focus. Huawei has pledged to prioritize computing resources and AI teams for the effort. Earlier, on September 17, Huawei unveiled the Ascend 960 superpod using near-package optics (NPO) at Huawei Connect 2026, employing 5,500 in-house Hi-ONE optical engines.
Why we recommend it: The original text places the industry-academia partnership alongside the NPO superpod, revealing Huawei's overall strategy in optical interconnect and AI optics
Sep 20Sun
Sunday
C114 Communications Network · Optical CommunicationsOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6161
The 27th CIOE drew nearly 190,000 visits over three days, up 32% year on year. NPO (near-package optics) products from major domestic optical module makers made a collective appearance. NPO moves the optical engine from the switch front panel to near the ASIC package without soldering it to the switch chip, balancing power consumption and serviceability.
Why we recommend it: The original article explains the trade-offs of NPO versus CPO and pluggables, helping to understand cloud vendors' selection logic
Sep 16Wed
Wednesday
C114 Communications Network · Optical CommunicationsOptics industryOptics and AIPicksAI score6565